


We're the Best You've Got

by CurtainCaller



Category: Miitopia (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Tension, Character Arcs, F/F, F/M, Fighting, Flirting, Gen, Like a LOT of awkward tension, M/M, Nonbinary Character, OC cast, Possibly dark character backstories, Scaredy cat becomes a strong independant woman, Straight Relationships, Swearing, Trans Character(s), gay relationships, helicopter parenting, more tags to be added as this goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-08-17 11:38:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16515722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurtainCaller/pseuds/CurtainCaller
Summary: Infinity's always been a sort of 'Bubble Baby' through a majority of her life. Being a sheltered girl, she's been taught that the world can be a pretty dangerous place. One day, however, the now-young-adult decides to leave her small village of Willowhill to go on a little adventure of self-improvement. To take a little toe-dip into the pool of Miitopia, like her 2 lost sisters had previously done, vowing to not stray too far and reach a similar 'end' as they had. Unfortunately, due to a set of unplanned events, that little toe-dip into the shallow end plunged her into a deep end of fear and madness, as she gets thrown into this whole 'Saving the World' mess.Thankfully, though, she's not entirely alone in this, as she'll be accompanied by many friends to take down the Dark Lord Vanity, forming a group titled 'Team Pyrite'. The only issue is that... well, none of them are the most 'desirable' of heroes, due to many factors. Laziness, greed, a lack of confidence, the list goes on. But hey, they're the best, willing fighters Miitopia has right now... they probably have SOME potential, right?If they can't do it, who else will?





	1. Started From the Bottom... Now She Definitely Doesn't Wanna Be Here.

 

Ah, the world of Miitopia…

A place where every Mii can live in peace and harmony.

Well, at least… it _was_ , anyways.

The darkness came without warning, a terrifying shadow threatening all of Miitopia!

A disgustingly evil fiend stole away everyone’s faces, and to add insult to injury…

They gave the faces to monsters!

 

* * *

 

Dark red pigtails gently bobbed up and down as a young woman strolled across the grassy plain, a small satchel draped over her shoulder holding basic necessities for her trip. As the grass of Easin Hills fell flat under her feet, she gazed at the flock of pink butterflies floating about. The air felt quiet, which was something she wasn’t expecting, but was something she didn’t necessarily object to. Her initial anxieties about her planned trip were gradually lowering by the second. Allowing herself to wander through the land without a map or a general plan sounded like a horrible idea in theory, something she never thought she’d go through with, but maybe she was starting to reconsider it all.

 

After all, the sky was blue, the breeze was as soft as a mother's kiss, a floating pair of brown eyes were drifting by…

 

...Wait what?

 

The pudgy redhead gawked in utter bewilderment as a faintly glowing set of eyes floated into view, gently circling around one of the nearby butterflies, before proceeding to collide straight into it. There was a small flash of light as this occurred, nearly blinding the poor woman. When her eyes fluttered back open, she noticed she was gazing right back into a pair of eyes on the butterfly itself. Without warning, the insect let out a wild screech before diving towards the woman, enacting a squeak of distress from her as she frighteningly dove to the ground. The second the creature swept over her, adrenaline kicked in and she shot to her feet, sprinting away as fast as physically possible, not bothering to stop until she could no longer hear flapping wings, or the high-pitched screeches from that… _thing_. The moment she confirmed to herself she was at a safe distance, she screeched to a stop and pressed a hand against the nearest rock she could find, breathing heavily.

 

So maybe this was a bad idea, a horrible one, surely. She never should’ve gone through with this! She should’ve just stuck with her gut and stayed in her village for the rest of her life, things would be much safer that way. Her parents were right, the world _was_ dangerous! They were probably going to give her one of their famous 'I told you so' speeches, but she frankly didn't care at this point in time. She was just about to turn on her heel and go back the way she came when she realized that going back would mean she’d have to run into those horrid butterflies again. Should she try to find a way around them, or should she just continue forward? The young lady’s anxieties were brought to a fleeting halt as she spotted a village in the distance. A small place, judging by how barren it looked, but she wasn’t complaining. Sighing with relief, she quickly sprinted off in that general direction.

 

* * *

 

By the time she had arrived to the entrance, the poor girl nearly collided straight into an older man with slicked back, blonde hair. She squeaks, quickly stepping back, her body tense and her breathing heavy. Across from her, the man she nearly ran into had a confused look on his face, putting his hands up defensively.

“Woah there, what’s up with you?”

“U-Uhm… I… uh…”

 

She could barely get out a few stutters before a nearby older woman behind a nearby wooden stand chimed in with equal concern. Responding only in 'uhms' with a panicked expression gets you those sorts of vibes. “Oh, the poor dear… she looks scared to death! Here, would you like some water? You should perk up, a smile would suit you better.” She held out a bottle half-filled with water, and the frightened hesitantly accepted it, too nervous to bring up that she has her own refreshment in her bag. She took a few sips, allowed herself to breathe, handed the bottle back to the woman, and then she began.

 

“I-I saw monsters! L-Like… like monsters with people’s faces! A-A butterfly with… with eyes and stuff, and… and…” She trailed off when the she noticed that none of the 2 she had run into seemed to look at her with concern anymore. Instead, their features were replaced with slight amusement. The man laughed openly at her panic, while the women tried to muffle her giggles.

 

“Monsters with people’s faces??? You’re kidding, right? You probably just imagined it, no monsters lie within 50 miles of Greenhorne, trust us!” He shifted over and gave the shaken girl a pat on the back as her own face turned to a similar red hue as her hair. She opened her mouth to protest their amusement, but instead shut it and filled her mouth with a new set of words. She didn’t want to seem like a weirdo that had come barreling into town screaming about conspiracies and freaky imagery, so changing the subject might be best.

 

“A-Anyways, uhm… do you know anyone around here that… that can give me directions? Please? I need help getting home.” The least she could get out of this conversation was a safe route back to her town. The man perked up, pointing across the small village to a faint figure in dark red, his attention focused on a pile of papers in his hand. “You see that guy over there? That’s Zue, the mayor of this lil village. He can probably help you. He's you guy when it comes to directions.”

 

Sighing with relief, the young woman nodded. “Th-Thank you so much, Mr…” She trailed off, realizing she never got his name. A few seconds set in before he responded, clear and confident, a hand on his hip.

 

“Name’s Clay. If you need any help getting around here or figuring out who to talk to, just come to me, alright? I know everybody here, especially Har over there.” He gestured to the woman behind the stand that had offered her water, in which Har happily smiled and waved. The nervous woman nodded and turned on her heel to walk off when Har spoke up.

 

“Hey there traveler, aren’t you going to give us your name too?” Upon hearing this, the redhead halted in her tracks and sheepishly turned back around, rubbing the back of her neck. She completely forgot to introduce herself, and now the air just felt awkward. Wanting to escape the conversation as quickly as possible, she spoke up. “Ah, sorry. I-I’m… I’m Infinity. It’s nice to meet you.” She quickly bowed and turned back around, heading off in her intended direction. As she left, she heard a faint “See you around, Infi!” from Har, the dark skinned woman waving as she exclaimed it.

 

Hm… Infi. She’s never been referred to as that before, not even by her parents. It felt foreign to her, being given a nickname by someone she just recently ran into. She couldn’t contemplate these small changes in her lifestyle for very long, though, as she felt something suddenly cling to her leg. She softly squeaked and snapped out of her thoughts, looking down to see a grinning, freckled, blonde boy grinning up at her. “Raaaaaaaawr! I’m a dragon! I’m gonna eat youuuuu!”

 

“A-Ah… uhm…” Infinity had no idea how to respond to this. She never personally thought of herself as ‘good with children’, as she's been the youngest child in the household, so she had no idea how to play along with the charade. Thankfully, someone who looked equally as worried as herself rushed in, her brown hair flying behind her as she pried the child away from her leg.

“Stop it, Jerr! Don’t hug random strangers!”

“But mooooooooom!”

“No buts! Now go play over there.” The mother gestured to an open spot of grass, and the child begrudgingly stepped away to go continue playing pretend. She glanced towards Infi with an apologetic gaze.

 

“Sorry, sorry, my child has _way_ too much energy. I can barely handle him sometimes.”

“Oh, it’s...it’s fine, really. Don’t, uh... worry about it.” Wanting to continue on her route to achieve her current objective, she softly nodded in understanding and sped-walked away before her leg could be clung to again.

 

Continuing down the path, mentally prepping herself on how she should ask the Mayor for directions, she spotted a couple in her peripherals. A black haired woman was nuzzling her nose against a rosy-cheeked blonde. The man chuckled, his mouth curling into a charmed smile.

“You’re so sweet, Kairi!”

“No, you’re cuter Pavel!”

“I feel like I’m dreaming when I’m around you…”

“If this is a dream, I don’t want it to stop! Hehe!”

 

Feeling her own pale cheeks redden from secondhand embarrassment, she once again sped-walked away from the scene, only to accidentally nudge someone walking in the opposite direction. Despite this encounter being less forceful and direct, she still felt nervous as she looked up at the long-haired man. Instead of looking confused, the man just had a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“Hmph… we don’t see your type around here that often. You here in Greenhorne visiting or somethin?”

“Y-Yes! Uhm… well, kind of, I...I guess?”

“Wow, must be _soooooo_ nice for you. I’m _so jealous._ ” As he says this, he walks on past her, giving her an intended playful shove with his shoulder, not realizing that this frightened her more than anything.

Afraid that she just made an enemy in the span of a few seconds somehow, she quickly dashed past him, right up to the Mayor. Thankfully, she had learned her lesson from her earlier experiences moments ago and managed to avoid bumping into him. She took in a deep breath and tapped him on the shoulder, quickly being met by a pair of wide, curious eyes under some thick, black eyebrows that matched his thin strips of hair, shuffled away under a round red hat.

 

“Oh, hello there! You must be a traveler of some sorts, right? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.” He commented, eyeing her shaky figure. Infinity shook her head, staring down at her feet.

“Ah, no. I-I uh...got lost and ended up here. Clay said you could help me…y-you’re Mayor Zue, right? I need a route back home.”

“Oh, of course! Yep, that’s me! Where are you heading off to, Miss…?”

She tensed up, clasping her hands together. “I-Infinity! Infinity is my name...and I’m trying to get back to, uhm... Willowhill…”

“Hm… doesn’t ring a bell, but I’ll definitely look through some of the maps I have stored, Miss Infinity!”

 

Just as the Major turned away to go retrieve some maps, he paused and looked up before abruptly gasping. Confused, Infinity looked up as well. The sky seemed to be darkening at an alarming rate, far more menacing than the atmosphere of any storm. It didn’t take long for the other citizens of Greenhorne to notice this, as frightened murmurs filled the quiet air. In the air, a large, dark purple mist began to form before a large figure slowly erupted from it. A blue eyed face with dark, thin lips grinned widely back at the members of the small village, her light eyebrows shifted down into a menacing glare contrasting with her mauve hair. She wickedly curled and uncurled her sharp, claw-like fingers, the only other source of skin shown out of the mess of dark robes draped over her. Around her neck dangled a large charm necklace, with a single open eye being the center piece. She wasted no time in bursting into maniacal laughter as the citizens below her began to shake like leaves in the wind.

 

“Mwuahahahaha! Let’s cut to the chase here, don’t want to waste _too much_  of your miserable, insignificant, wasted time, do I? Not like you all do much with that time, but hey, i'm courteous like that. Ahem… I am the Dark Lord, Vanity! I’ve come here to wreak havoc on this world, and I’m starting with YOU LOT!” She jabs a finger at the small crowd, before extending an arm out and lifting it up in a swift motion, a focused look on her face. Panicked, Infinity gazed around the town as she saw what horrors came from this. One by one, she saw familiar faces lift into the sky, with only a few exceptions. The faces of the two she first met when arriving, the face of the young boy, the face of the woman in that gushy wushy couple, and the face of the man that scared her unintentionally. Terrified out of her mind that she might be next, she nervously clung to the closest person to her, that being the mayor. It seemed as though Mayor Zue had the same general idea and clung back to her desperately. Infi screwed her eyes shut, tensing up for the possibility that her face would fly off at any moment… but that moment never came. When she looked up, Vanity was gazing contently at the shaken faces hovering around her.

 

“Hm… this’ll do nicely for now. Don’t want to get _too_ greedy now, otherwise i’ll have enough ammo than I know what to do with it. Then that'll just be too tedious...” She mumbled to herself, scratching her chin idly. “Anyways… listen up, you freaks! Get used to this, cause this is what you’re going to be dealing with from now on. And to those who’ve been spared graciously by me, be grateful. Take a nice, _looooong_ look at your little friends… and despair!” Laughing evilly yet again, she evaporated back into the purple mist, along with the resident faces. There was a few moments of awkward silence before Infinity pulled away from the Major, her entire body trembling.

 

“I...I-I can’t stay here!” Not even bothering to ask if she could still receive directions via a map for a safe route, she quickly took off back the way she came. In the distance, the Mayor seemed concerned for her safety, attempting to catch her attention by calling out her name, only for it to fall on deaf ears. Her feet constantly tripped over one another, kicking up gravel as she sped past the man that had gently shoved her, sitting on the pathway without a face. She took a mere glance at the earlier couple, the man named ‘Pavel’ holding his faceless partner close with a look of disturbance, before she selfishly turned away and continued to run.

 

It was only until a familiar brown-haired mother shot forward and clung to her arm did she decide to stop.

 

Infinity froze in her tracks, looking up at the older woman, who seemed to have tears in her eyes. Infi opened her mouth to protest, to request for the woman to let go of her, but before she could even get a word out the young mother began to babble. “Oh please, help me young traveler! My poor baby... please, please help my little Jerr!”

 

Infi lost her voice for a good 10 seconds as her eyes drifted between the woman and the small, faceless blonde child in the background. As much as it hurt her heart, it wasn’t like there was much she could do to help. She wasn’t the most physically or mentally strong, if anything she’s the type to be picked last for dodge ball. Gently prying her arm away, she shook her head. “I’m… I-I’m sorry ma’am, I can’t…” She trailed off, stepping back a little.

 

The sheer amount of disappointment that flashed over the stressed mother’s face was nearly enough to make Infinity reconsider on the spot, her heart shattering at the sight. Turning back to her child, she sighed and nodded in understanding to the red-headed hope she had. “I-It’s fine, it’s fine… I’m just worried for my little Jerr, but I understand why you wouldn’t be willing to help…”

 

Infinity looked between her and the exit to Greenhorne just a few paces away, nearby Clay and Har, who both looked empty and despaired. She wanted so badly to just escape and rush back to her home, equally out of both mild concern for her relatives and out of desire to feel safe and comforted by a hopefully calm environment. After all, Vanity did say that she was starting _here,_ perhaps she glanced over her own village of Willowhill. Yet, the sight of the poor mother and her faceless, saddened child made her sympathy skyrocket. She couldn’t possibly imagine what she’s going through, and before the poor ball of stress could comprehend it, her impulses got the best of her.

 

“I mean… I-I can try to help search for his face a little, I… I guess-” Before she could even finish the sentence, the woman had shot up and yanked her into a tight hug. She immediately tensed up, not used to experiencing sudden physical affection from a stranger, and just tried her best to remain as still as possible before the woman pulled away. “Thank you thank you _thank you so much!!!_ Ah, here, you might need this…” Confused, she watched as the woman fished an item out of her pocket before pushing it into Infi’s hands.

 

Curiously, her eyes fell down to the object in her hands. Dangling from the end of it was a lengthy strip of string connected to a charm. Surrounding the edges was a thin, gold coloring, with a dark purple center. A golden, closed eye was the centerpiece of it, as if slumbering. Lifting her eyes up from her palms, she softly tilted her head, earning a gentle grin from the mother. “It’s an old good-luck charm in my family, I thought it might help you, Miss… wait, I don’t suppose I ever got your name, did I?” She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck as she asked this.

 

“O-Oh… my name is Infinity, ma’am…” She responded, stiffly holding one fidgety hand out while the other gently maneuvered the string of the necklace around her own neck. The mother grinned and gratefully took Infi’s hand, gently shaking it up and down. “Thank you so much, Infinity. I’m Arace, sorry for not telling you so earlier…once again, thank you. Please, if you manage to help my baby, come to me as soon as possible.” She instructed, before turning away to return to her child.

 

...So Infi was in quite the pickle, wasn’t she? Beforehand, as she impulsively took up the offer to help rescue the face of Arace’s child, she thought that there was a sliver of a chance that she could slide out of it in the end. That she could change her mind and make her way back to Willowhill and she wouldn’t face huge consequences. After all, there’s a slim chance she’ll come across the single parent again, or even the village of Greenhorne itself. But now, as she gazed at the necklace dangling at her chest, she realized that she wouldn’t just be letting down Arace if she left without taking back the request, but she would also be stealing something precious. She’s never done anything bad before, and even leaving everything behind after offering help would give her enough grief and guilt. Taking this item and leaving would just be too much for her poor heart.

 

She sighed and hesitantly turned away, beginning to make her way out of Greenhorne. It seemed as though she didn’t have a choice, she would have to try to go through with this and be a ‘hero’, which is not what she intended to do with her afternoon today. Having to forcibly shift her legs back and forth, she slowly exited Greenhorne at a pace that was 1/4th the speed of her panicked sprinting moments ago. Very much so out of hesitance, despite how much she wanted to leave the dreary scene as fast as she could. As she left back the way she came, she temporarily paused to glance at Har and Clay’s faceless figures, before slowly continuing on her route out of town.

 

This was not going to go well.

 


	2. New Threats and New Threads

The upcoming encounter Infinity dreaded oh so much arrived faster than she anticipated. She decided to start off her little ‘search’ for the young child’s face by strolling around the desolate plains outside of Greenhorne, all the while planning out methods to get out of this. Maybe she could search _juuuuuuuuust_ a tiny bit, and then return to the mother a day later with the claim that she ‘looked everywhere for him’? Seems like the best excuse to sneak out of this whole ordeal, anyways. The only loophole she'd need to deal with would have to be finding a place to camp out through the night, as she'd probably get caught red-handed by the mother if she went back to Greenhorne to find a good enough place to sleep. Even just wandering around the plains and hills close-by to Greenhorne made her anxious, with the earlier butterfly incident and all, so that loophole was going to be a a bitter hurdle to jump over. Strange how just leaving her village for a day or so left her in such a huge, convoluted mess.

 

Thankfully, the terrifying screeches of the butterflies with eyes(which she chose to dub ‘butter-eyes’ to lighten her anxiety) never came as she wandered about. What _did_  fill her ears, however, was the sound of familiar cackling. Infi instantly felt tense and on her toes, her head swiveling around the endless plains only to see… nothing. The laughter still echoed around her, nonetheless, seemingly coming from behind one of the larger, jagged rock formations. Could the Dark Lord… really not have gone that far? Well, there was only one way to confirm it. She didn’t like having to do this, but she’d have to investigate.

 

Taking great care to make the least amount of noise possible, Infi slowly, but surely, shuffled closer and closer to the rock formation. Her legs were jelly-like, and each little tip-toe was as if she were traversing a field of landmines. She made it to her destination just in time to notice that it wasn't just laughter that she heard. In the background, faint and feeble, were little murmurs and pleads of other voices. Only one voice overwhelmed the others in volume, a childish cry that pierced through it all.  
"I want my moooooooooommy!"

 

Carefully, Infinity tip-toed around the edge of perimeter of the rock, keeping her body pressed to the jagged side as tight as she could. She wanted to be as invisible as possible, which was usually easy for her. She was used to laying low, especially in situations of high stress. Keeping her breathing light as she peeked around the side of the rocks, she bore witness to the floating faces of the townsfolk of Greenhorne, warped into looks of distress. Nearby said faces, gently stroking her chin, was Dark Lord Vanity, a cruel smirk on her face.  
“Pfff… hahaha! Oh please kid, the only way you’ll get your mom is if I steal her face too! Or even better, if I throw the monster I stick you to at her! Now pipe down, I’m trying to think. Let’s see, I can put _y_ _ou_  on an imp, maybe… a golem for you? No, no, I should reserve that for someone else. Hm…”

  
As Vanity continued to mumble to herself, Infi’s grip on the rocks tightened as she wondered what to do. There was absolutely **no way in hell**  she was going to charge in there and demand to get the kid’s face back… not to mention, with the other faces present, it’d just be a bit selfish and possibly rude to just ask for one face back and not the others. Well… maybe she wouldn’t need to just _demand_  for the faces back. Perhaps she could just… sneak in when Vanity wasn’t looking, grab Jerr's face, and run. Granted, she had no idea how she could _grab_  a floating face, but that was the safest idea she had.

 

All planning was swiftly chucked out the window when one of the faces, more specifically Clay, spotted her. "Infi!"  
"Huh?" Vanity whipped around just in time to see a blur of red duck back behind the rock, a cruel smirk forming over her face. Infi pressed her back against the cold surface and held her breath, trying not to cuss Clay out in her head for accidentally revealing her. Now wasn't the time, however, as she prayed that Vanity hadn't seen her and that she could possibly bail on this situation, or peek out again and make a 'shush' motion to attempt a small rescue mission. An eerily soft, corrupt chuckle from above quickly debunked her hopes, as she fearfully glanced up to find the Dark Lord peering over the top of the rock, her claw-like hands gripping the sides, a playful but demeaning smile on her face. 

  
“Well well well… one of the rats from earlier that I spared.” She suddenly paused, a genuine look of inspiration having struck her face as she turned towards the rest of the faces. “Oh! That’s a nice idea. I can put one of you on one of my mice! Alright, _you_ ,” Vanity turned back and jabbed a finger in Infinity’s direction, causing the small adult to flinch. “Gimmie a sec, runt. Gotta send off these faces and figure out what to slap this lil brat’s face on, I wanna shut up his crying.” As she said this, she swiftly threw up an arm, sending a good majority of the faces flying into the sky and off in different directions, one by one. The only one that remained was Jerr’s face, sad and tearful, floating relatively close to the ground. So close that Infi could almost touch it…so close that she could just reached her hand out and--

 

**SLAM!**

 

Infi swiftly retracted her hand and fell back onto the grass as Vanity slammed a large, clawed hand down between her and Jerr’s face. Vanity scowled down at her, gently tapping the fingers of her other hand against the rock.  
“Oh, what’s this? You trying to make a grab for this lil brat’s face, huh? What, you want it back or something?” Infinity quickly propelled herself to her feet, fearfully nodding. Vanity seemed to contemplate this, giving a deep hum as she stroked her chin yet again. Then, she proceeded to say something that Infi deemed to be surprising.  
“Eh, sure, why not, right? Can’t stand his whining anyways, so sure squirt.”  
“O-Oh, yay!”  
Infi was on the verge of downright _thanking_  the Dark Lord of all people, when a raised, clawed finger shut her up.  
“But, there’s a catch.”  
“Oh no…”

“Don’t worry your tiny, little, puny head. All you have to do is **earn** his face back, after all.”

 

Before Infi could contemplate what she meant by that, Dark Lord Vanity made a few swift movements with her hands before a cloud of purple mist appeared in front of Infi. Once it cleared, there remained a large, yellow, slimy blob bouncing up and down.  
“How well can you do in a fight, huh, squirt!?” Vanity exclaimed, before making a simple sweeping arm gesture, causing Jerr’s face to collide into the yellow blob with a childish cry. Similar to the butterfly incident, there was a flash of light, and when the light dimmed down, Jerr’s face was slapped onto the slime. Smirking, Vanity laughed and faded in another cloud of purple mist, but not without leaving one taunting message.  
  
“Have fuuuuuuuuuun!~”  


Infi was immobile, staring up at the large slime with Jerr’s face on it. In an act of defense and attempted peace, she raised her arms up defensively.  
“U-Uhm… hey, Jerr… uhm… pl-please don’t hurt me?” She asked cautiously. Despite the plea, the slime quickly lunged at her. Infi screamed in fear and threw her arms up, slamming her eyes shut, not noticing the sudden flash of light that swarmed around her all at once. She only decided to open her eyes when she realized pain wasn’t coming, and when a heavenly voice filled her ears.

  
“Infi…Infi, open your eyes. Can you hear me all?”  
Hesitant and fearful, Infinity took her time opening her eyes before taking in a rather… gorgeous sight to say the least. She was in a new area that felt compact, yet open at the same time, as if she had entered a bright void or a new dimension. Surrounding her were pastel colors, ranging from purple to blue to pink, all constantly moving and waving in a calming pattern. The weirdest sight of this all was a figure that slowly came into view. It was much taller and slender than Infi, despite looking like a weird blur to her. It was much darker, so making out the general shape was easy, determining that they were very spirit-like. Their legs weren’t there, instead their lower half formed a weird, waggly tail. Their eyes and mouth were empty voids, but it still looked cheerful and caring nonetheless.

  
“Ah… u-uhm… yes, I can hear you, uhm… spirit person? And I can, uh, see you.” She had no clue as to how she should exactly address this ghostly figure, but it was relieving to notice that they didn’t seem to care.  
“Oh, how nice! And to be more specific, i’d have to say I’m more of a… well, a _Guardian_  Spirit, I suppose.”  
“Wh-What!?”  
“Woah, woah, hear me out, okay? Now then, you seem to be in a bit of trouble right now, don’t you, my child?”

Being referred to as a ‘child’ was mildly off-putting in her opinion, but she still furiously nodded. She could take all the help she could get right now.  
“Ah, I see, I see! Excellent! Now, I will bestow upon you the power of the guardian!”

  
Letting out a small hum, the figure suddenly drifted around Infi in a tight circle, leaving only 6 floating spots of light surrounding her on the solid blue flooring. Content with the abilities they just provided her, the spirit halted in front of her, their arms sweeping out in a wide gesture to show off the possibilities.  
“There we go! Now, I’ve provided you with a bunch of jobs! Just enter a circle and you’ll get assigned clothing, abilities, and weaponry for it! Take your time, my child.”

  
After hearing this, Infi uncertainly stepped into each circle, one by one. The first circle she entered startled her, as a beam of light suddenly rushed upwards around her before dissipating, leaving her in heavy armor with a cape around her and a sword in her hand. Hm… a warrior? She wasn’t quite sure if she was capable of that. Not to mention it kinda dragged her down a bit. Shuffling out of the circle, she gasped as the clothing and weapon faded off of her body and out of her hands. More determined now that she knew entering these circles did no harm, she stepped into another one, this time having lengthy robes dawned upon her and a wand in her hand. A mage? Hm… it could get out of hand easily. She didn't trust herself with magic. Infinity continued to slowly make her way around the whole circle of jobs, trying to see what vibes and talents she could settle with. She immediately slid out of the ‘thief’, ‘chef’, and ‘popstar’ category, as the first was a bit of a dangerous title, and the other 2 were just weird. She was almost going to consider being a cleric, but it just felt too bland and didn’t leave her feeling strong and capable of taking down a monster.

  
So, she inevitably circled back to her first choice. She would never consider herself a ‘warrior’, for she didn’t have any knowledge of sword techniques or the familiar feeling of heavy armor draped over her body, but it felt the most right to her. A sharp, gleaming sword, good protection, a soft cape… it made her feel the safest. So, with as much confidence as she could muster, she stepped back into the warrior circle and turned to the Guardian Spirit as the warrior apparel was draped over her.  
“I...I wanna be a warrior!”

  
Soon after saying that, the Spirit smiled and a beam of light from the edges of the circle shot up again. When Infi stepped out of the circle when the light dissipated, the clothing remained on her body and the sword stayed in her grip. The Spirit sprung forward and set their hands on her shoulders, nearly spooking her with the sudden faded contact.  
“Ho ho! This is perfect! Now, i’m going to send you out of this little space to take out that nasty slime. Now go, my child!”

 

The red head was blinded once more by a fierce light, but it took her less time to get her bearings as she found herself back in the fields, face-to-face with the Jerr slime and an actual way to fight. With newfound confidence, Infi slowly raised her sword and began to unprofessionally swing it wildly at the slime, doing it in a flailing fashion. Despite it feeling as though it went on for an eternity, the fight only lasted a few minutes. Sometimes she would sweep her sword too short, too high, or too far off in one direction. It would probably help if she kept her eyes open, but her pinata technique felt the best for her at the moment.  Every now and then the slime would bash into her, but she was incredibly thankful she chose having armor, as it mostly cushioned the blows. It would nearly knock the wind out of her every time, though, leaving her vulnerable for a follow up slam into her body, forcing her to stumble back and regain her stance. A sigh of relief swept through her when she landed the final hit, watching the slime suddenly melt down into a little puddle and off the sword she impaled into it's body. As if his face were just a band aid, the slimy substance of the body mostly vanished and Jerr’s face was released. Letting out a ‘weee!’, the young child’s face flew off back to his body.

 

Tired and shaken, Infi collapsed onto the soft grass as if it were a bed, panting and staring up at the bleak sky. A small voice resonated from the necklace resting against her chest.  
“Hoho! Well, that was certainly a show! Well done, my child! Now, that child should be safe.”  
Softly smiling with appreciation for the praise, she pushed herself to her feet, looking down at the charm.  
“...Uhm, G-Guardian Spirit?”  
“Yes?”  
“...C-Can we… uhm… talk?” 

* * *

 

“You’re… a-a guardian spirit.”

“For the 5th time, yes, yes I am.”  
Infinity pressed her back against a smooth rock, hugging her knees tightly with one arm and holding the necklace in the palm of the other, listening to the spiritual voice coming from it. Surrounding her was a small, warming, glowing circle. Unlike the earlier ones that granted her new abilities, armor, and weaponry, this one instead was gradually healing the scrapes and bruises on her body from the tussle earlier. There wasn’t much to heal, but she gratefully appreciated the warm air caressing her and soothing her anguish.

 

“Is, uhm, is that kinda like being a-a guardian angel?”  
“Sort of, yes. But, from what you’ve seen of me, I don’t exactly look like an angel, do I?”  
“Y-You _do_  look like a spirit… gh-ghost thing, so good point. Kinda scary, th-though.”  
“Oh, my apologies, my child! I didn’t mean to come off as frightening.”  
“Oh, no, no! Don’t worry, i-it’s fine… I get scared easily. I’m not used to… **everything** that’s been happening around here.” She waved her arms around, greatly gesturing to the current events that have happened over the past hour or so. Getting lost, nearly dying from some butterflies _and_  a slime, having to try and face the Dark Lord, getting warped into a new dimension of some sort, and suddenly becoming a warrior were _not_  everyday things for her.

 

“Well, I don’t suppose anyone else around here has been used to what’s going on lately, with that vicious Dark Lord fellow.”  
“W-Wait, so you s-saw everything that was going on? I-If you’re a, uhm, powerful Guardian Spirit, then why di-didn’t you just… uh, try and stop Vanity?”  
The Spirit within the necklace laughed heartily, as if Infi had asked the dumbest question ever.  
“Hohoho! Child, Vanity’s power is much greater than my own. Not to mention I can’t exactly do much damage in this state anyhow. I can only bestow upon others the ability to help themselves…wait! That’s it!”   
“H-Huh???”

  
With as much pride as the Guardian Spirit could muster, they exclaimed their idea in a confident and excited tone of voice. “What if **you**  tried to take down Dark Lord Vanity--”  
“Wh-What!? No, _**no!**_  Absolutely NOT! I-I’m not fit for taking down someone like her! Not at all!”  
“Oh, but my child! You took down that slime easily! You _did_  take a bit to do so, but you did so nonetheless! I see potential in you!”  
Infi passionately shook her head back and forth to signify her disapproval for this idea. “No! A-Absolutely not! That was just a **slime**! And I needed y-your… your help for it!”  
“Exactly, my child! You managed to take it down with my help! It’s not as if you’re going to go through this on your own! You can take down the monsters, and I can provide the supplies to keep you safe and on your feet! Ho ho!”  
“I...I-I don’t want to, though! I only left my h-house to go on a little trip, g-get to know the world a bit better! Not to do _t_ _hat_.”  
“Well, maybe trying to fight the Dark Lord could do just that! After all, it seems as though Vanity plans to go very far with this ‘face stealing’ plan. Didn't she say she was going to ‘wreak havoc on the world’. Who knows how far she’ll travel?”

  
Infi was rendered speechless, slowly pushing herself to her feet. This entire idea sounded crazy, absolutely **mad.** Willingly going after Dark Lord Vanity to try and take her down with 0 fighting experience!? That felt like a death wish! Then again, the Spirit wasn’t wrong, she wouldn’t be going in entirely blind. After all, she seemed to have a lot of potential options, guidance, and safety. She slowly began to walk back to Greenhorne, contemplating the offer in silence as the healing circle behind her that she had stepped out of dimmed down into nothingness.

"...My child?"  
"..."

The Spirit continued to ask her if she was taking up the offer or not as they walked, but Infi just stayed silent, tossing the pros and cons of this plan back and forth like a juggling act in her head.

  
She only thought of a compromise just as she caught sight of the village in the distance.  
“I’ll… I-I’ll give it a shot. On o- _one_  condition though.” She said, hearing a soft sigh of relief that they got a response from her.  
“Name your price, my child!”  
“If at any point I get scared and, y’know, ch-change my mind, I-I get free reign to bail and pass you off to someone who’s better fit for the job.”  
“Hmmm.” There was a brief silence as the Spirit took their own time contemplating the offer. Just as Infi made it back to the entrance of Greenhorne, they spoke.

 

“Sounds reasonable! I’ll be happy to work with you for however long this lasts, Infi!”  


* * *

“There’s a _Guardian Spirit_  in my family good luck charm.”

“Hoho! Sure is! And please refrain from repeating that multiple time to yourself, please.”  


Infinity stood in front of the young mother, Arace, and her child, Jerr, back in the chilling village of Greenhorne. The young child’s face had returned to his body, and now he stood there, hugging his mom’s leg and staring at Infi with gratitude for the rescue. His mother’s attention, on the other hand, was focused on the speaking charm necklace in Infi’s hands.

  
“Y-Yeah, uhm… so, I kinda need th-this to, uhm… fight the Dark Lord. The Spirit said it’ll keep me, uh, safe. I can give it back when I’m done, th-though! And if I pass it on to, well, s-someone else, then I’ll make sure they’re trustworthy! And th-that they give it back--”  
The mother swiftly cut Infi off, stepping forward to put her free hand on her metal-plated shoulder. “Keep it for as long as you need. If it helps stop the Dark Lord and it prevents Jerr from getting hurt or put in danger again, than I’m fine with it. That ol thing’s been collecting dust, anyways.”  
“Hey, I heard that!” The Spirit exclaimed, earning a sheepish, apologetic grin from the mother in response. Infi, on the other hand, was absolutely relieved. She wouldn’t need to argue over the importance of having this charm in her hands! That was less stress inducing than she imagined.

  
“Anyways, I should head off n-now and go after the Dark Lord.” Infi explained, rubbing at her arm sheepishly. Arace seemed to be completely okay with this transition out of the conversation. "Oh, yes! Of course! But before you go, this is probably going to be a long quest, right? You should have a little something for the road.” 

The mother walked away towards a small wooden table, before coming back with a small bag tied closed with string. Similar to the Charm necklace, she smiled and pressed it into Infi’s hands. When the redhead pulled the bag open, she softly gasped at the amount of shimmering coins in there.  
“A-Ah... are you sure you want me to keep this?”  
“Positive.”  
“...You absolutely s-sure?”  
“Yes.”

  
Physically restraining herself from trying to offer at least some of it back or asking again,she mumbled a ‘thank you’ and strolled out of the village, a bag of coins in one hand and a sword in the other. As she left, she heard the faint cheer of the child she saved, glancing over her shoulder to see him waving goodbye excitedly.  
**“Good luck miss Warrior Lady!!!!”**

She couldn’t help but briefly smile at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got the next chapter out! I'll continue on with introducing the whole Greenhorne quartet in the next few.
> 
> If you notice any errors or have any criticisms, make sure to to tell me.


	3. Stealing and Dealing

Like many things that have taken place so far today, Infi was already beginning to regret her choices to try and ‘save the world’ .

While it felt incredibly satisfying to be able to take down those butter-eyes and _not_  have to run away screaming into the hills like a normal person, it still didn’t stop her from feeling tempted to do so regardless. Despite the fact the fields weren’t necessarily teeming with the large, winged creatures, they still did a decent number on the poor girl when one would sweep in out of left field. The armor absorbed most of the hits, but the fact it weighed her down a lot and felt a bit stuffy piled onto her list of problems, and made taking down these bugs more difficult than anything. Still, all of this annoying pain and lack of comfort melted away just a bit when she saw the eyes fly off to their owners after leaving these monsters as small puddles of pink goo and flying eyes. Sheesh, what’s it with these creatures leaving slimy substances behind when they’re defeated? Eh, she tried not to think about it too hard. 

Putting her sword into her sheath with a tired attitude, she continued on the trek through the hills. To occupy her trip, she pulled out the small pouch of coins Arace had given her and quietly counted them out. Hm… 200 gold. That was pretty generous, honestly. She should probably pay Arace back when she gets the chance--

 

_**SCREEEEEEE!** _

 

Oh _shit_.

 

Infi barely had enough time to lift her head up and see a butter-eye come barreling into her at high speeds. It slammed straight into her face, sprawling her out onto her on her back and sending her opened coin bag flying. Her hands immediately flew to her face, frantically slapping away the winged creature as if a wild bird was clawing at her eyes. She successfully managed to pry it away using a 'wonderful' slap-fighting technique, throwing her hand down to grab her sword and unsheathe it. Unfortunately, out of frantic panic, she intended to unsheathe her sword _a_ _nd_  swing it at the monster at the same time to deliver an unexpected blow. 

All that she achieved, however, was losing her grip the second the sword left the sheath, and flinging it to her left and across the grass.

 

**Great.**

 

She quickly shot to her feet and sprinted towards the sword, hoping to god she could outrun the winged beast that was surely closing in on her. She didn’t dare to look back, for the screeches of the terrifying... _thing_ was clue enough that just one little trip could mean danger. She kept her gaze downwards to avoid tripping on any small rocks, but neglected to look up in time before suddenly getting hit from the front. She collapsed onto her side this time, looking up to see **two**  butter-eyes hovering above her now. So she was now both disarmed _and_  at the mercy of more than one of these creatures. Unsure as to how she could slither out of this situation, she did the one thing she knew well. That being curling up in a ball with her arms over her head and praying that something good happens.

 

Luckily for her, however, something good _did_  actually happen! A loud **THUNK**  noise and screeches suddenly erupted around her, and she opened her eyes in time to see one of the butter-eyes collapsing to the ground with a curved knife in its body, promptly melting into goop and sending a pair of eyes flying. Before she could even turn in the direction of where the knife had come from, a rather small woman launched out of nowhere and tackled the second butter-eye, sending it crashing to the ground with her on top of it. With a swish of her jagged, brown hair, the figure turned to Infi with an extended hand out, gesturing to the tossed knife with her eyes. Infi sat there in confusion, pointing at herself to confirm that she was the one being referred to at the moment. All the figure did was roll her eyes and grunt, looking pretty peeved.  
  
_“Augh_ , yes, I'm talking to you, idiot! Hand me my knife already! And make it-- **woah!** \--Make it quick! Can’t hold this thing down forever!” She exclaimed, trying to keep the squirming creature at bay. Tensing up, Infi immediately scrambled over and retrieved the knife as fast as possible, passing it over to the woman. The brunette wasted no time with plunging it into the creature like the previous kind that got stabbed, staining her knife pink as the eyes popped off and floated away. Slowly pushing herself to her feet, she gazed at Infinity with judgement, resting her hand on her hip as she looked the trebling hero up and down. She seemed rather stoic and stiff compared to how she was just a few seconds ago, but Infinity, on the other hand, was relieved and thankful for her actions, almost leaping to her feet to thank her.  
  
“Oh th-thank god! Thank you… thank you s-so much! These...th-these creatures are so _scary_  and--” Infinity was cut off when the person who had come to her aid suddenly shot forward, stretched an arm towards her chest, and then yanked hard. Infi gasped as she felt the string of the necklace snap against the back of her neck, and the smaller girl took off, purple charm in hand and brown hair flying behind her. Infi only had a second to comprehend what just happened, and by then her ‘savior’ had sprinted a good few feet away without another word, only slowing down to grab at the remains of her coin bag before continuing her pace. Refusing to let the girl run off with her belongings, especially her only source of major help, she sprinted after her despite the pleading of her tired legs.

 

“Hey! Wait! St-Stop! I need that!” She cried out, her heavy metal armor clanking as she ran as fast as possible. Due to the weight of her armor, and the fact that this person seemed to move on an entirely different time scale, it was barely manageable to keep her in her sights. Nevertheless, the little thief curiously turned around to look at her, only slowing down slightly to offer herself a bit of challenge, a cocky expression on her face.  
  
“Which thing? The money or this dumb charm?”  
“Th-The charm! Please!”  
Smirking, the woman spotted a large rock formation nearby and climbed it swiftly, just about making it to the top by the time Infi had arrived at the foot of it. “Aww, what’s wrong? Is this charm some family heirloom or something? Somethin from great-great-grandma _waaaay_  up in the sky right now? This thing’s gonna rot anyways, might as well sell it! Which is exactly what I’m gonna do!”  
  
Infi quickly began to clamber up the rock formation… well, as quickly as she could, anyways. “Y-You don’t understand! I need that to stop the Dark Lord!”  
The thief at the top of the formation stood there for a few solid seconds in disbelief and confusion, before bursting into a fit of laughter, holding out the necklace in a teasing fashion, dangling by the string.   
“Are you serious!? _This_  little thing is gonna stop that face stealing freak!? Nice try at an excuse honey, but you need to work on your realism--”

  
“Hoho! It’s true!”

  
  
With the sudden comment from the Guardian Spirit, the woman squeaked in surprise and lost her footing, letting go of the necklace and sliding down the rock formation like a boulder in a landslide. Unfortunately, she happened to be tumbling down in Infi’s path and roughly collided into her. They became a messed up pile of limbs and pebbles as they tumbled down it. Once they hit the soft but durable grass, they both took at least a minute to steady themselves and catch their breath from the ungraceful ride down that rock.  
  
“Did… d-did that necklace just _talk_?” The thief was the first to speak, propping up her smaller frame on her elbows with a groan as she gazed at Infinity with a look of confusion. Infi slowly rolled over onto her side to face the bewildered girl, rubbing at her cheek.  
“Y-Yeah… that’s what I was, uhm, talking about… that’s kinda my--”  
  
“Your guardian spirit!” The necklace, which had dropped down nearby, piped up. In normal circumstances, it was a miracle that it didn't shatter, but considering the fact it was inhabited by a spiritual force, it's durability felt more reasonable. Infi begrudgingly forced herself to her feet to pick up the necklace, while the stealing stranger sat in silence and bewilderment.  
“How come y-you didn’t speak up until now? Chasing after her was kind of tiring…” She mumbled with a subtle, glancing down at the spirited necklace in her palm as if this were an everyday occurrence. Infi didn’t even realize how bizarre this was to do in front of a total stranger, more peeved that the Guardian Spirit didn’t speak up to prevent all of this.

“Hoho! My bad, my child… I wanted you to take over for a little bit and treated myself to a bit of rest and observation. I didn’t realize how hard it would be for you to get me back from a thief like _t_ _hat_.” The spirit stated precisely, surely talking about the thief that had taken Infi’s belongings. “She’s very fast, if I do say so myself.”  
  
“Wait, wait, wait… so _you’re_  supposed to take down the Dark Lord with that little spirit dude trapped in a necklace!?” The woman piped in, slowly pushing herself up, dusting off her gray shorts and green camping jacket with a grunt. Infi nervously turned around, keeping a protective hold on her little spirit guide in case the woman decided to have second thoughts.  
“Well… uh, yeah. They’re actually the, uhm… ones who gave me this armor and all.”

“Damn, really? Looks kinda heavy, I could never figure out why people would willingly want to fight things with so much metal dragging them down.”  
“W-Well, out of the choices I was, uh… given, it felt the safest.”  
“You got surrounded by a bunch of moths of all things, I doubt you could classify that as ‘safe’.”  
“...Th-Those weren’t butterflies?”  
  
There was an awkward pause. “...Okay, whatever. So _anyways_ , I think I might get going now. You mind if I keep your cash?” She jangled around the bag full of the remaining coins that weren’t scattered across the ground from the earlier tussle.  
“Uhm… I mind that a little.”  
“Well, too bad. I’m keeping it anyways. See ya later, sucker.” She promptly turned her back on Infi and started to leave, when one comment surprised the both of them.  
  
“Hoho! Hold on a second, why don’t you join us?” The Spirit inquired with a chipper tone of voice. The thief halted in her tracks and whipped around, both of the ladies replying with a ‘what’, Infi with a far higher level of volume. While Infi was stunned into silence, the thief merely crossed her arms in a sassy gesture.  
“And why would I want to do that? You said it yourself, you’re going off to fight the Face Stealin Queen, why would I bother going with _her_?” She gestured to Infi, her brown hair flowing out with that gesture. Infi physically flinched and shrunk down with that gesture, despite being the taller one of the two.  
“Well, my child, you’re incredibly skilled! You took down 2 of those creatures, and you seem pretty nimble and professional!”  
“So? Why should I waste those skills tagging along with you guys and wasting valuable time?”

“Hoho, well suit yourself my child. But I have you know, we got the gold you just snatched from helping a mother’s child, and who knows how much more we could get from doing the same to the thousands of faces that have been taken away, hm?”  
  
Now _that_  caught the woman’s attention. Her bored expression morphed into one of intrigue as she ran towards Infi, grabbing her free hand and shaking it in a fast-paced motion. “Nice to be workin with’cha! Uh… what’s your name?”  
“Uhm… I-Infinity.”  
“Really? Huh, rad name. Alright, I’m calling you Infi then. Name’s Velvet. Alright, let’s go!”  
Before Infi could properly protest, Velvet started to yank the poor, bewildered girl off in a random direction, despite the protests of both of their scratched up, tired, aching legs.  
  
A few minutes passed when Velvet decided to free Infinity’s hand from the clutches of her own, leaving the poor young woman hesitantly following in her footsteps, trying to re-tie the string of the necklace back together and not collapse from exhaustion. As she did so, she noticed that Velvet was pretty far ahead of her, and silently began to whisper to her Guardian Spirit.  
“Why did you…?”  
“Well, isn’t it obvious, my child? You clearly need someone to help you on this adventure!”  
“But… but why her? She kinda scares me.”  
“Well, she’s pretty skilled, is she not? She could be valuable. Plus, remember our deal? If you want to pass me off to anyone at any moment, then you can pass it off to her! Hoho!”  
“Okay, okay…uhm...” She mumbled, begrudgingly looked up at the small girl leading the way, watching her curved dagger swing from side to side in one of her hands. It gave her a sense of dread, but she tried to shake it off. “I’ll give it a sh-shot.”

 

Just as Infinity finished tying the string of the necklace back together, she began to notice that the sun was setting pretty fast. She could hardly comprehend that everything had recently taken course in the span of a few daylight hours. She was feeling pretty tired, and all she wanted to do was sleep.  
“Uhm… Velvet?” She inquired, speeding up her pace to nearly match the smaller woman’s. Velvet glanced at Infi and perked up an eyebrow.  
“Yeah? What’s up?”  
“I think we should… sh-should, uhm, y’know… find an Inn or something. I’m really tired.”  
“...An Inn? What’cha mean?"  
"I-I've seen a few Inns around when I was... making my way here."  
"Well, I’ve been camping out and takin naps out here for a while, I’ve never seen any inns. Doubt there’s even any close-by.” She stated with a ‘matter of fact’ tone in her voice, a confident smirk plastered on her face.  
  
“...Well… uh, what’s that over there, th-then?” Infi pointed to their right, where a small, 2 story building light up against the gradually darkening sky. Velvet went silent for a few seconds as her eyes scanned over the word **‘INN’** on the front in bright, neon letters. She looked up at Infi and chuckled under her breath.  
“Well I’ll be damned, that’s convenient… come on! Let’s go!” She grabbed Infi’s hand again and ran off in the general direction of the Inn.

 

Infinity sighed as she was yanked along. This was gonna be a rough ride with this woman.

* * *

Infi practically slept like a baby that night, for very obvious reasons. When the two arrived at their given room, she had promptly tossed her helmet off and collapsed onto the bed with a groan of both pain and relief. The second her head hit the soft pillow provided to them, she was out like a light, with nothing that could possibly interrupt her slumber. When she did wake up, however, it didn’t take her long to slowly piece together her situation as her mind cleared itself. Dark Lord Vanity, the face stealing, becoming a warrior, lugging around heavy armor and a sword, having someone come along to help her...

  
...Wait, something was wrong.

  
  
Her eyes widened when she realized that Velvet wasn’t nearby, the opposing bed on the opposite end of the room wrinkled and barren. Upon further inspection, she noticed that the coin bag Velvet was carrying around was no where in sight, not a single coin left anywhere. The same applied to her helmet, which was gone as well. Immediately jumping to conclusions, she felt around at her metal plated chest, and exhaled with relief when she discovered that her Guardian Spirit was still with her. So, in the worst case scenario, at least Velvet didn’t take off with _everything_ Infi had. Forcing herself out of bed, she hurried out of the room in search for the woman, only to nearly bump right into her when she flung open the door and stepped out into the hallway.  
  
“Woah! Be careful! Could’ve stabbed your eye out with this.” Velvet stated, holding up something concealed in a lengthy sheath. The redhead with bed head glazed her eyes over it, slowly extending her arms out to take it from the shorter girl.  
“Is… this a sword?”  
“No, it’s a really long wad of bubble gum.” There was a brief pause before Velvet threw her arms in the air in mild exasperation. “Of course it’s a sword, dumbass! You lost your other one out in the field, after all, and we ain’t gonna go running back through that mess again to get it! Besides, it looked pretty crappy. Not gonna have you lugging that heavy thing around, so I got you a thinner and lighter one. Sharper too.”  
  
Infi couldn’t help but flinch every now and then at her particularly rude comments, but tried her best to disregard it as she carefully unsheathed the sword. It practically glimmered with how clean it was, leaving the hero amazed, with shimmering eyes.  
“W-Woah… it’s so… so cool! Th-Thank you, Velvet!”  
“No problem, nerd.”  
“Uhm… by the way, do you, like… know where my helmet was?”  
Velvet’s expression dimmed a bit as she stuffed her hands into her shorts pockets. “Tch… well, the thing is, I kiiiinda traded it to get you that sword.”  
“...Wh-What!?”  
“Hey, listen! The money we had wasn’t enough, but the shopkeeper said they’d allow a trade. So I kinda… y’know. But hey, on the bright side…” She rustled around under her green bandanna and pulled out a banana. “Tada! I used some of the money we still had to get us breakfast! These things heal you up quick. Plus, they’re pretty tasty.”

 

Velvet promptly snapped the banana in half, offering one half to the taller girl. Utterly bewildered and trying to fully comprehend that she was going to be without some protection for a while, she hesitantly took the banana half and pocketed it. She traced her hands over the sheath of her sword, conflicted over the sudden gift and the theft her new ‘partner’ just committed on her. She simply sighed and decided to let it slide for now.  
“Thanks… but, uhm, just… a-ask me first next time, ple-please?”  
  
Velvet just softly nodded and rolled her eyes, brushing her fingers through her spiky, slick hair. “Right, right. Whatever, nerd. Anyways, go get yourself ready. We got a looong day ahead of us.”

* * *

“Yo, Infi! Look! That cloud kinda looks like a blob of jelly.” Velvet exclaimed, pointing at a small cloud in the blue sky as she led Infi across the grassy plains.

“Ah… I-I dunno, it looks more like ham to me…”  
Both women looked at each other and nodded in unison.  
“I’m really hungry.”  
“Same… r-ridiculously hungry.”  
Infi made a mental note that bananas should be saved for more... on-the-trail snacking instead of being a brief breakfast. For the longest time it was just the sound of footsteps and the occasional peek left and right to make sure no monsters were going to get them with their guard down. The silence between them started to feel uncomfortable and awkward, so Infi piped up with a genuine question of hers.

“I wonder if Clay’s face is around here...s-somewhere.”  
“Hm? Who?”  
“He’s, uhm… s-someone from Greenhorne. Got his face st...stolen. I think flew over here and stuff.”  
“Well, just keep your eyes peeled then. It’ll probably be attached to a monster-- _Oh good gravy that’s a huge moth."_  
Velvet stretched an arm out to prevent Infi from walking too close into possible danger, and halted the two of them in their tracks. In front of them stood a rather massive ‘moth’, almost 3x as big as the usual ones they’ve encountered. It looked almost as if it was made of crystals as well, with how it seemed to glimmer in the sunlight. The two girls looked between each other anxiously, on guard and tensed. Infi leaned down and whispered to the small girl.  
“Sh-Should we try, uh, to go around it?”  
“I dunno, looks like it’d give some nice loot…”  
“I’m not s-so sure, it’s… creeping me out. It’s just kinda… th-there. Menacingly.”

“Pssh, please. I’m the most menacing thing within the next 10 miles.”  
  
Just then, the butterfly whipped around, followed by a typical, high pitched screech as a full face was revealed to be plastered onto it. It wasn’t just any face, it was in fact _Clay’s_   _face._ A wicked grin was briefly flashed across his face, along with shimmering, bright yellow eyes that quickly faded back to brown as quickly as they popped up.  
  
Infi softly gasped, unsheathing her sword as fast as possible without hurting herself, a skill she has yet to properly master. “That's him! Th-That’s Clay! We have to help him--”

  
“Already on it!”  
  
With that exclamation, Infi watched as Velvet’s curved knife flew out and was already being thrown with high accuracy, hitting the monster straight in the wing. A purple, gooey substance began to leak out of the wound as the monster screeched. In retaliation, it dived at the weaponless thief, almost hitting her dead on and knocking her over. Meanwhile, the red haired ‘heroine’ decided to sweep in and divert it’s attention, sweeping her sword out with determination, only to barely scratching it. However, it was enough to garner it's attention, which was very unfortunate for the poor shaking leaf of a warrior.  
  
“Nice idea! You distract it while I get my knife back and finish it off!” Velvet ordered confidently, already trying to shift herself around to find a good angle to snatch it back at. Infi gave a gentle nod in understanding for the plan, but she was already beginning to regret letting the helmet snatch slide this morning. One of the most vulnerable parts of her body and she doesn’t have anything to keep her from getting head trauma! So, of course, her worst fears game true as the creature flew straight at her and activated her reflex to duck. Instead of avoiding it, the monster slammed straight into her head instead, knocking her on the ground. Her line of sight seemed to blur and morph, as if the rocks and the grass turned into fog, and everything flipped upside down for a little bit.

 

Unsure of what to do or how to comprehend her surroundings, Infi switched to her ‘Fight’ response and waved her sword around frantically in front of her, shutting her eyes to avoid confusing herself more with her dazed sight. What followed was a series of familiar screeches and the feeling of her blade grazing the wings of the creature. She continued to swing back and forth, only to hit empty air with the sounds of grunting and screeching fading away in volume. After a solid minute of tiredly swinging her sword around whilst blind, she decided to open her eyes again just in time to see the butterfly collapsing to the ground and evaporating into a puddle of purple goo. Clay’s face peeled off as the creature evaporated, floating off into the sky with a grateful grin. Infi’s vision was still relatively blurry, but much clearer than it was during the initial blow. Gently rubbing her head, she pulled back when she felt something wet, only to see a bit of blood come out on her hand.  
  
“Oh ho, my child! Are you okay??? That looks like a very rough wound!” Her Guardian Spirit’s exclamations attracted the attention of Velvet, who was busy cleaning her curved knife from purple moth remains. She stepped forward and cringed a little.  
“Yikes dude, you got pretty roughed up.” She commented.  
“Hoho! No need to worry, my children! For I have just the thing!”  
  
The necklace holding the divine spirit began to glow and pulse, before projecting out 3 straight beams of light. Slowly, said beams began to morph into… well, what someone would classify as ‘salt shakers’. Each one had a varying color to it, one a soft yellow, another a fanciful green, and the third and smallest one with a pleasing pink. Velvet curiously picked them up and examined them as the Spirit went on to explain.  
“Here you go, hoho! In those 3 little bottles, I have provided little energy supplies! I’d like to dub them as ‘Sprinkles!’ The yellow one can increase your health, the green one helps to fuel energy and magic, though I don’t think any of you really know how to use magic… a-anyways, the third one can completely restore you one hundred percent. But I wouldn’t recommend it unless you absolutely need it, I’ve only got enough in stock for one when you guys are busy hacking and slashing, hoho!”  
  
The small brunette rolled her eyes and gripped the yellow container. _“These would’ve been useful yesterday, but whatever…”_ She mumbled, followed up by a weak nod of agreement from Infi.  
“Why didn’t you j-just… uhm, summon that healing circle that you put, uhm…” She paused to wince, pressing a hand against her forehead. “Th-that you put around me before?” There was a small pause as the Guardian Spirit let out a ‘hum’.  
“Hmm...hoho, well, I’d like to think this new way is a lot more efficient! Similar to that pink sprinkle container, I can only bring out one! Besides, you should take all the healing I can offer, oh ho!”

Velvet merely shrugged, tilting the yellow shaker over Infi, ready to sprinkle it. “Whatever, let’s just get you healed up already.”

The injured redhead let out a sigh of relief as she was engulfed in a small, warming glow, her wounds healing relatively fast. Faster than she could even comprehend! Before she knew it, her vision had cleared entirely, her head didn't sting as much, and she felt almost 100x better. Stretching her arms out, she slowly pushed herself to her feet once her energy returned and the pain had faded. “Th...Thanks Velvet…”

“...Uhm, Infi?”  
“Huh? Yeah?”  
“I...didn’t sprinkle any on you yet.” She held out the shaker to prove it, which was still filled to the brim. Infi blinked and tilted her head, rubbing her forehead to prove that she was, indeed, healed and that she didn’t hallucinate the experience. She glanced between her necklace and Velvet, who both seemed equally confused despite none of them speaking a word and the Guardian Spirit not having much of a physical form to display it. The uncomfortable silence and lack of explanation resonated their universal confusion.  
  
A small ‘ahem’ from their left captured their attention, as the two girls whipped their heads around to see a pretty tall figure standing before them, his posture soft and straight. His eyes were bright and unnaturally violet, but somehow full of warmth, kindness, and love. In his dark hand held a golden staff, a blue crystal held at the tip, which was still faintly glowing with a warm haze. He chuckled and put a hand on his hip, tilting his head.  
  
“Well now, how’s it going, strangers?”

 

Infi and Velvet both looked at each other, glancing back and forth between themselves and the mysterious figure. Velvet decided to take initiative and approached him, her hand keeping a tight grip on her curved dagger, Infi hesitantly shuffling behind her.  
“We’re doin just fine now, thanks. How’s it goin with’chu, huh?”  
“Ah, don’t mind me. I was just looking for my friend around here, and I saw that you seemed to be having some trouble so I thought I’d provide some service! I got a lotta magic on my hands, after all. By the way, have you guys seen a small blonde around here? He’s got glasses and a checkered apron?”

There was a brief pause before both women shook their heads, their hair going flying in the process. The man sighed and crossed his arms over one another, frowning as he looked out on the horizon.  
  
“Dammit, where could he be…”  
Infi then remembered the main point for going after the Dark Lord. While her personal goal was to travel around and see the world for once, the main premise of taking down such a force was to help others. She slowly approached the man, stepping in front of Velvet.  
“Uhm… S-Sir? Maybe _we_  could help you find your, er, friend?”  
The man’s eyes sparkled brightly as he rushed forward, practically lifting both Infinity and Velvet off the ground with his strength and height. Both of them seemed equally surprised at the sudden physical affection, Velvet’s grip on her dagger being tight, but thankfully he set them down in no time flat before she caused any damage.  
“Thank you so much! I’ll be happy to repay you afterwards, miss…?”  
Infi caught onto this routine already. “Ah, m-my name’s Infinity, sir. And th-this…” She gestures to Velvet, who half-assed a wave. “Is Velvet.”  
  
“Well then, nice to meet’cha, ladies! I’m Xylo, the local cleric.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not uploading anything in a while. Procrastination and finals got me for, like, a month. Think of this as a late Christmas present! Hope you guys enjoy.


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